Happy Winter Wedding
by GoesKaboom
Summary: Wedding planning is never easy, but it's especially difficult for Nekozawa and Haruhi. Will the two of them manage to plan the perfect wedding, despite all the obstacles they face? Crack fic. Completed.
1. January

Happy Winter Wedding

**Note: Let's see here... nope, I don't own anything other than a computer, an inordinate amount of notebooks, and a half-eaten energy bar that' I'm currently snacking on. Time frame for this story is about seven years after graduation from Ouran.**

**Warnings: Language, some OOCness (this is technically a crack fic after all), mild mature themes **

Chapter One- January

It started with a simple word: "Yes." On January 1st of that year, Umehito Nekozawa proposed marriage to Haruhi Fujioka, who immediately agreed. The two of them basked for a moment in the glow of acceptance, then, almost in tandem, turned to each other with a sudden horrible realization: they had to plan a wedding.

"So..." Nekozawa stated nervously. "Do you know anything about weddings? Because I definitely don't.."

"We'll need to book a church, somewhere for a reception, rent wedding clothes..." Haruhi seemed daunted by the prospect of the task ahead. "Maybe Tamaki would know some places."

"Do we really need a church?" Nekozawa asked. "I mean, you're a lawyer. You know judges. Can't you get one of them to perform the ceremony at the courthouse?"

"That might work," Haruhi sighed. "But I would like to be able to talk to my friends, too. I'm sure all of them will know places to go for these things."

"That is one of the benefits of knowing rich people," Nekozawa agreed.

"You're rich too, dummy!" Haruhi laughed, teasing him good-naturedly

"Yeah, but I don't exactly know all of the same things the others do," Nekozawa replied. "I mean, do I look like I know what I'm talking about when it comes to things like parties and weddings? I probably shouldn't say this, but Kirimi-chan was the one who picked out your engagement ring... I wasn't sure what to do." He looked so sad that Haruhi just had to hug him. She didn't want him to feel bad about things like that- it was perfectly alright for him to ask for help when it came to that sort of stuff.

"It's fine," she said consolingly. "Kirimi-chan has good taste."

"But I feel bad that I didn't choose it! I mean, what kind of husband would I be if I did not at least try to make you happy on my own!?" Nekozawa exclaimed.

"You don't need to worry," Haruhi said. "We'll plan it together. I'm having lunch with the Ootoris tomorrow. Why don't we go together. I'm sure they'll be able to help."

* * *

Of course, Nekozawa agreed. The next day, the two of them met Kyoya and Renge at a small cafe downtown. "Ah, Haruhi, you brought your boyfriend," Kyoya noted. Haruhi smiled.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore," she said. Renge gasped.

"You don't mean that you broke up, do you?" she asked. "Haruhi, why would you do that? You and Umehito-kun are perfect for each other!" Haruhi and Nekozawa started to laugh.

"We didn't break up," Nekozawa said. Haruhi held out her left hand to show Renge the ring, and the other woman squealed loudly.

"Oh, Haruhi! You're getting married!" she yelled. "We'll have to work together on planning your wedding! What if you use the dress I wore when Kyoya and I got married? And I'll call my caterer and-"

"Congratulations," Kyoya smirked, addressing Nekozawa while his wife was off in her own little world of sparkles and frills and flowers and cakes... "You finally got the balls to propose."

"I was so nervous!" Nekozawa admitted. "I thought for sure she would reject me!"

"Why would you think that?" Kyoya asked incredulously. "You and Haruhi have been together for what, six years now?"

"Seven, actually. We started dating on the day of her graduation..." Nekozawa replied.

"See? She obviously loves you. If she didn't, she would have broken up with you years ago. I _know_ Haruhi. She doesn't play around when it comes to her feelings. She can be dense sometimes, but if she actually cares about you you'll be together with her for life. God only knows Tamaki has done enough stupid stuff for her to hate him, and they're still good friends."

"I suppose you're right..."

Thanks to Radio Renge, five minutes after the left the cafe, Haruhi's cell phone started ringing off the hook. "HARUHI!" Tamaki yelled into the phone, causing Haruhi to wince. That man never did realize how loud he was over the phone. "Is it true? Renge just called me to tell me you were engaged!"

"Haru-chan!" Mitsukuni (he hadn't gone by Hunny since high school) exclaimed. "Takashi and I just wanted to say congratulations! Also, I'll make your wedding cake!"

"Thank you," Haruhi replied. "It would be great if you were willing to help with that."

"Reiko has been casting curses for you two to get married for a while now," Mitsukuni added. "She'll be thrilled to hear about it!" With that, he hung up, leaving Haruhi standing there still clutching her cell phone. Almost immediately, it rang again.

"Hello?"

"That weird fangirl friend of yours got my phone number somehow," Mei barked by way of a greeting. "She told me you and Umehito finally got engaged! Good for you!" Haruhi was about to thank her, but the other woman cut her off. "I'm going to help you with this- god only knows what kind of ceremony you two would come up with on your own!"

"Oh, that's nice," Haruhi replied, slightly miffed.

"I'm just telling the truth," Mei answered. "This is going to be great!"

Mei hung up, and Haruhi thought that she would finally be able to have a break for a moment, but Renge really had all her bases covered.

"Haruhi!" Kasanoda exclaimed into the phone. "I just heard- it's true, then? You're getting married?"

"Yeah," Haruhi replied, unsure of what to say. She knew that Kasanoda still harbored some complicated feelings for her, even though he was currently dating another yakuza child. Haruhi wasn't sure how to deal with this situation- she didn't want to make trouble for the two of them (and if those rumors about people who tried to steal that woman's lovers ending up in the sea with concrete overshoes were true, she didn't want to make trouble for herself). Knowing about Kasanoda's feelings, well... left her in a complicated position, to say the least.

"That's great!" Kasanoda said from the other end of the line, and Haruhi could tell her really meant it. "When do you intend to have the wedding? Mieko really wants to give you a gift, if we're invited of course."

"Next December. Almost a year from now," Haruhi replied. "And of course you and Mieko-san can attend."

"Thanks. And again, congratulations!"

It was with mixed emotions that Haruhi hung up the phone for the last time. While she was pleased that all of her friends were so supportive, she still felt rather melancholy. She was leaving her father, and now that she would be joining the Nekozawa family, what would her in-laws be like? Kirimi-chan was sweet, but she had never met her future parents-in-law. And now that she was going to be married, would her life ever be the same again?

To Be Continued

Author's Comments:

New year, new story! Happy 2010 to all of you!

Since this is a chronological story, and I finished drafting before January 2010, but not ridiculously before, I will be updating this once a month, in accordance with the chapter months.

Believe it or not, I really like the Nekozawa/Haruhi pairing. They're so cute together, and Nekozawa is my favorite character. I know that this story is a bit strange, so thank you for reading!

-Kaboom


	2. February

Chapter Two: February

"Do we really have to do this today?" Nekozawa asked as he got dressed, adjusting his wig. "It's Valentine's Day. All those places are going to be completely crowded."

"The jewelry stores are all having the sales today," Haruhi replied calmly. "It only makes sense that we would go buy the wedding rings when they're on sale. Gold is expensive."

"It honestly doesn't matter how much they cost," Nekozawa mumbled. Haruhi sighed.

"I don't really want to do this today any more than you do, but Renge said she'd meet us at Takayama's Jewelry at 10:30 today. And you know how she gets when she doesn't get her way. I would really prefer not to have her angry with me for the next month." Nekozawa shuddered slightly. He knew exactly what Haruhi was talking about. Renge was extremely picky when it came to matters of love, and likely _would_ be upset with Haruhi if she didn't follow her advice as closely as possible. But then...

"I still don't understand why Renge would be involved in this at all!" he complained. "She's not the one getting married!"

"She thinks since she is married already that she should be my guide," Haruhi replied.

"She always did think she was qualified in every way," Nekozawa said. "But it's still annoying. Meddling in private affairs like that- doesn't she have any shame?"

"It's Renge." That was all Haruhi needed to say.

* * *

10:30 AM. Nekozawa and Haruhi arrived at the store, but didn't see Renge anywhere. "Don't tell me she forgot..." Haruhi muttered to herself. The two of them scanned the area looking for their friend, and saw a woman in a business suit yakking away on her Bluetooth headset, a man in a trench-coat with dark sunglasses covering his eyes, a young couple looking wistfully into the window, and a person in a poofy pink lace-trimmed coat. That person resembled a rather strange marshmallow, and much to Nekozawa's alarm, when it noticed them it started yelling and waving.

"HARUHI!" It was at that moment that Nekozawa and Haruhi simultaneously realized that the poofy marhsmallow-like creature was actually Renge. "I was wondering when you were going to come! I've been waiting here forever!"

"It's only... 10:36," Haruhi replied, checking the time on her mobile phone.

"Yeah, but I got here early so I could look at the selection!" Renge cried. "Oh, and then I saw this coat in the shop across the street and just had to buy it. What do you think?" She twirled around to give the two of them a better look at it, and Nekozawa and Haruhi exchanged glances. No matter how you looked at it, that was one obnoxious coat.

"It's... er, it's great," Nekozawa said lamely.

"Pink is a good color on you," Haruhi said. Renge beamed.

"I'm so glad you like it!" she exclaimed happily. "Anyway, come on come on!" Excitedly, she dragged her friends into the store. "You've got to see these new rings! They're so pretty! Oh, Haruhi, your wedding is going to be absolutely lovely!"

"Haruhi!" Nekozawa whispered urgently. "Are you sure this is a good idea? Do you think she found something that would be... acceptable as a wedding ring?" The panic in his voice was clear, and Haruhi had to stifle a laugh.

"Don't worry," she replied. "Renge is just here to help. We don't have to buy what she suggests. After all, it is up to us."

"What do you think of this ring, Haruhi?" Renge asked, pointing to a rather large one on display. The diamond looked like it weighed nearly half a pound, and the band was apparently made from white gold, and it was two centimeters wide.

"That's a bit more ring than I need," Haruhi replied diplomatically. "What about something a bit smaller?"

"Good call," Renge agreed. "You don't need anything that big." As the woman bounded around the shop, Haruhi felt a surge of affection for her friend. She might be a bit obnoxious at times, and might have questionable taste, but at least she tried. Not many people would be willing to help their rather clueless friends find wedding rings ten months before the wedding was actually going to take place. If only she understood the sensibilities of others better...

"What about this one, Haruhi? For Nekozawa?" To be honest, Haruhi was not expecting much. She had enough experience with the kind of things that would be likely to catch her friend's eye than to think that maybe she found something nice for once, but had to eat her words once she saw the item that Renge was indicating. It was a simple gold band, meant to fit a man's hand. It was devoid of any over-the-top decorations, but avoided looking cheap.

"Umehito, come here!" Haruhi said excitedly. Nekozawa complied, not expecting much. But even he was surprised.

"It's nice," he stated, his eyes wider than usual. "How much is it?"

"¥116,759," a sales-clerk interjected helpfully as soon as she realized that they were interested.

"That's not a bad price, all things considered," Haruhi mumbled under her breath. "Although it is a bit higher than I would like."

"What are you saying?" Renge nearly yelled. "You're not going to pass up an opportunity like that, are you? It's not that expensive! Why, this coat cost ¥200,000!" Nekozawa made up his mind.

"We'll take it," he said, although that may have been more to end the excursion quicker. He felt a bit out of place in a store like this.

"Excellent!" the clerk chirped. "What's your ring size, sir?"

"My what?"

"Your ring size, sir," the clerk explained. "We'll need to know it so that we can make sure that it fits you right." Poor Nekozawa had never even thought about his ring size before, and was at a loss for words.

"Um, I really don't know..." he finally mumbled. "I didn't know there was something like a ring size." The clerk sighed, and took out a key-ring. But instead of keys, it contained a large number of differently-sized rings.

"Try these on until you find one that fits the best," the clerk ordered. Nekozawa immediately did as she said, while Renge dragged Haruhi around, pointing to different rings. Haruhi had to grimace at some of her choices. She really didn't want a wedding ring that looked like one of those lollipop jewelry pieces, only with a diamond instead of candy.

"Don't you think that's a bit excessive?" she asked, eyeing the bauble with distrust. How would she even type with something that large on her hand?

"Nonsense," Renge waved away her friend's objections. "It's very pretty!"

Meanwhile, Nekozawa had found the right size, and told the clerk. She nodded. "Fine. I'll go place an order for that in your size. And you might want to go help your fiancee, she seems to be under attack by that other woman. She looks miserable, to be honest." Nekozawa voiced his thanks, and then nearly sprinted across the store to help Haruhi.

"Renge, I am not buying that," he said definitively, upon seeing the most obnoxious choice yet. "Look at that, it's almost half the size of Haruhi's entire hand! How would she go about life with something like that always on her hand?" Renge pouted.

"Neither of you have any aesthetic sense at all!" she complained. Suddenly, Nekozawa had a revelation.

"We don't need to buy a ring for Haruhi," he said. Renge gaped at him.

"Are you out of your mind?" she squeaked. "You can't have a wedding without the rings! Didn't your mom ever teach you that? Or are you just completely uncouth?"

"Oh, there will still be rings," Nekozawa said. "I just forgot that we have my grandmother's wedding ring. It's just as nice as anything in a shop today."

"That would be perfect," Haruhi said, happy that her fiance had found an alternative. And it was very romantic, she thought- her being given a family heirloom. Although she was worried about what her future in-laws would think...

"Are you sure?" Renge asked dubiously.

"Very sure," Nekozawa replied. Renge still didn't look convinced, but that was all it took to garner Haruhi's support for the idea.

* * *

The three of them left the shop, the invoice for Nekozawa's wedding ring in hand. "We should absolutely do this again some time!" Renge gushed. "What if I help you pick out your wedding dress?" she asked Haruhi. "We'll find the perfect dress for you!"

To Be Continued


	3. March

Chapter Three: March

Now that they had the ring, Nekozawa thought it would be a good idea to go find a wedding venue. Haruhi, on the other hand, did not. "Can't we just have it at the courthouse?" she asked. "I can talk to Judge Akasaki on Tuesday, when I have to go in for that trial. I'm sure he won't mind. In fact, he performed several weddings last year."

"What's wrong with having a more traditional wedding?" Nekozawa asked.

"Why do you want a more formal wedding so badly?" Haruhi countered.

"Because." Nekozawa averted his eyes from his fiancee.

"Because why?"

"Because my mother expects me to be married in a church," Nekozawa sighed. "She doesn't consider weddings held anywhere else to be valid, alright? Something about her family's traditions. My dad, on the other hand, couldn't care less if I got married in a convenience store. He's just glad I'm getting married at all. But my mother? She's strict about things like this."

"Why didn't you say so before?" Haruhi asked, slightly mollified.

"I didn't want to upset you," Nekozawa replied shyly. "I know how much it means to you to keep this wedding small with just immediate family and close friends."

"Don't worry about it," Haruhi decided. "We'll go look for a church."

* * *

Four hours later, the two of them collapsed into a table at the cafe they had met Kyoya and Renge at in January.

"Damn it! Why has everyone booked up the churches for weddings in December? You'd think that most people would want to get married in June or July!" Nekozawa groused.

"Maybe because it's Christmas?" Haruhi suggested. Then, she glanced at her fiance. "Fix your wig. It's askew." Embarrassed, Nekozawa felt the top of his head and realized that indeed, his blonde hair was poking out from under the black wig he always wore.

"You don't think it's because of my cloak, do you?" he asked worriedly.

"Why would it be your cloak?" Haruhi replied. "You didn't have the hood up."

"No! Not that!" Nekozawa replied, exasperated. "You don't think the churches have been refusing us because of my cloak, do you? It would make sense, if you think about it..." Haruhi sipped her iced coffee.

"Why would they? It's not as though-" there, she abruptly cut herself off, and her eyes widened. "I don't really want to say this, but it's possible. Maybe they're afraid that we're part of some weird cult."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Nekozawa asked.

"You'll just have to leave it in the car when we visit the next one," Haruhi gritted her teeth. Her fiance looked alarmed.

"I can't! It's too sunny!"

"You'll just have to bear it," Haruhi said. "Or, when we go inside the church, just step to the side and take it off. You can leave your wig on." She shook her head. "If we had more proof, we could sue those other places for discrimination, but who's to say it actually was the cloak? Maybe they really are full."

"I think it might work," Nekozawa replied dully. "Why are they doing this, though? It's not fair! We're a legitimate couple looking for a place to be married!"

"Well, if they were put off by the cloak, I can sort of see their point," Haruhi mused. "We just kind of walked in there, and you looked like you just finished one of your rituals! Although it still is discrimination... they really shouldn't judge people on appearances."

"But it's _cold_," Nekozawa pointed out, clutching his cloak about him protectively. "If I take it off I'll freeze!"

"That's why we wait until we're inside," Haruhi replied patiently. "I'm not telling you that you need to take it off _now!"_ She laughed at this almost giddily. Nekozawa started to laugh as well.

"Heh," he chuckled. "That would be less stupid."

* * *

Still not entirely sure why they were laughing so hard, the two of them giggled their way to their car. "The next church on the list is called Saint Isabel's,"Haruhi read off the list.

"What address?" Nekozawa asked, steering the vehicle out of the parking lot.

"19232 2nd Street," Haruhi replied. They were mostly silent during the trip there, each of them wondering how they were going to manage this whole thing- the transfer of Nekozawa's cloak and talking the priest into performing their wedding. Neither of them were particularly religious, so they didn't even have that to fall back on. Because they were so lost in their thoughts, they didn't really think about what kind of church building it would be.

"Wow..." Nekozawa breathed, seeing the beautiful cathedral on his right. "Is this it?"

"I think so," Haruhi replied. "So, shall we?" Nekozawa nodded and the two of them jumped out of the car and ran towards the church, not really wanting to waste time standing around in the cold. Once they were inside, Nekozawa removed his cloak, fixed his wig, and smoothed his front.

"Are you the Nekozawas?" an old man coming out of the church sanctuary asked.

"Actually, we're not married yet. But that is what we're here about," Haruhi replied smoothly. "We would like to have our wedding ceremony here on December 30, 20XX. Would that be possible?"

"Why not? You two seem like a nice enough couple," the old man said. "I'll make a note of it."

* * *

"That was a lot easier than I expected," Haruhi said as they exited the building.

"I like the building, too. I think we made the right choice," Nekozawa added.

"Are you sure you want to get married right before New Year, though?" Haruhi asked. "That's a time when many people are going to be visiting their families. What if we don't have anyone come to our wedding?"

"I thought you wanted to keep it small!"

"I do, I do," Haruhi amended quickly. "It's just that I know we need a witness. What are we going to do if we don't have someone to sign the paperwork? And I know my dad will be very upset if no one but him shows up."

"That won't be a problem," Nekozawa said, smiling. "Do you really think any of these people we know would miss it for the world?"

To Be Continued

Author's Comments:

This chapter is slightly based off of a true story. A friend of mine and his fiancee were trying to find a church to have their wedding at (neither of them were religious, but the bride's mother was demanding that they have the ceremony in a church). The bride had dyed blue hair, and every church they went to kept saying, "Sorry, we have something planned that day." Eventually she wondered if it might be her hair, so she went to the drugstore and dyed it brown. The very next church the two of them went to, they managed to reserve it. To this day neither of them are really sure if it was the hair that caused them to have so much difficulty reserving a venue.

Personally, I've never had to hunt for a wedding venue, and I'm kind of glad of that. From what I've heard, it's one of the more stressful parts of planning a wedding, especially if your relatives are demanding that you have it one place when you'd really prefer to have it somewhere else.

-Kaboom


	4. April

Chapter Four: April

"What do you mean, you're not going to have a honeymoon!" Renge shouted at Haruhi across the table. The two of them were having lunch together, and Haruhi made the mistake of mentioning her lack of post-marriage vacation plans to the other woman. "You have to have a honeymoon! It's _traditional!" _

"Renge," Haruhi replied calmly. "Umehito and I have jobs. We can't just take time off from work to go on an exotic vacation. Besides, I don't even have a passport."

"You don't have to leave the country! You could go to a hot springs or something!" Renge retorted.

"Three days after my wedding I'm supposed to represent a client in court," Haruhi replied. "And the day after that Umehito has to take a business trip to Britain."

"Then go with him to Britain!" Renge shouted, drawing confused looks from other patrons at the restaurant.

"I already told you that I don't have a passport. And besides, sitting in a bunch of meetings with a lot of PowerPoint presentations in them is not really all that exciting. There's only so many presentations on the 4th quarter profits from the company that one can sit through," Haruhi explained.

"But it doesn't seem fair that you should miss out on something so special as your honeymoon," Renge replied sadly.

"Don't worry about it," Haruhi tried to reassure her friend. "It's not as though it was something I really cared about in the first place. You can't miss out on what you never had."

* * *

"You mean you're not taking a vacation after you get married?" one of Nekozawa's coworkers asked.

"I don't know if you've forgotten, Sato, but we have to be in London four days after my wedding, which doesn't exactly leave a lot of time for a romantic getaway," Nekozawa's said.

"Then take your wife to London with you!" Sato replied. "Don't be lazy, it's a bad way to start a marriage!"

"Oooh, fun," Nekozawa said sarcastically. "S Corporation's PowerPoint presentations are so romantic. Yeah, no. Why would I want to subject my poor wife to those damned things? I can barely tolerate them myself!"

"You're the freaking CEO," Sato retorted. "Cancel the meetings! I heard from my friend that London is a great city! Take Mrs. Nekozawa with you and you can explore it together! It will be fun- you can visit the Queen at Buckingham Palace!"

"I don't think we can actually meet the Queen," Nekozawa replied. "And that's nice coming from the guy who brought his girlfriend with him on a business trip to Washington D.C. And got hopelessly lost. I seem to rememebr that you two rode the Metro for eight hours isnce you were too stupid to realize that your cell phone doesn't work underground. Didn't you miss the meeting?"

"Why did you have to bring that up? You're such a dick!" Sato replied. "Besdies, that was a fluke! A fluke!"

"Oh? What about Mumbai, where you couldn't find the hotel even though you were standing right in front of it?" Nekozawa said, smirking.

"I can't read Hindi," Sato brushed off.

"What about Chicago? You got on the wrong train and ended up at Midway airport!" Nekozawa reminded.

"Hey! That's not fair! I can't read English either! And besides, what does my lousy sense of direction have to do with you not wanting to take your wife on a honeymoon? You just lazy or something?"

"No! It's not that! Haruhi has to be in court the day before I leave, and she doesn't have a passport. I'm sorry, but I would really rather not get deported for trying to sneak someone into the United Kingdom," Nekozawa replied.

"That's just lame, dude," his coworker said. "You have eight months before you guys get married and you won't get a damn passport? Not to be rude or anything, but that makes you sound like an unromantic douchebag."

"I'm not an unromantic douchebag!" Nekozawa answered heatedly.

"Then prove it," Sato said. "Go and ask your fiancee if she wants to go to London with you. You know what? I'll even pay for my own room so you two can stay together."

"I can't understand your level of emotional involvement in this." Nekozawa just shook his head. "I mean, it's not as though _you're_ not going on your honeymoon."

"Of course it's my business! I don't want my friend to miss on the most important experience of his life!" Sato shouted.

"I thought graduating from university was the most important experience in life," Nekozawa baited, trying to get a rise out of his coworker. It worked.

"Pardon my disrespect, but you're a complete idiot, do you know that? University is nowhere _near_ as important as making your wedding special! University lasts a few years, but you have your wife for life! Damn, Nekozawa, who raised you, a pack of wolves? Your mom never told you that the day a girl gets married is the most important day of her life?" Sato howled. "You're so naïve! Don't you know that you're doing your poor fiancee a disservice?"

"I didn't before you started shouting at me," Nekozawa replied sarcastically. But his coworker couldn't care less.

"Please promise me one thing, boss," Sato pleaded. "Please promise me that you'll at least talk to her about it. It's such a shame that you won't even take the time to consider it."

"All right, all right," Nekozawa conceded. "If you'll get back to wrok. Don't you need to be on that conference call with that corporation in Paris anyway?"

"SHIT!" Sato yelled. "I'm late!" He dashed off, leaving his boss to think on what he had just told him.

"I guess I'd better talk to Haruhi then," he muttered before shuffling back to his desk and looking at the pile of paperwork he was going to have to deal with. Inwardly, he groaned. Stupid Sato, always distracting him. How was he supposed to get any work done with that hyperactive section manager around, anyway?

To Be Continued


	5. May

Chapter Five: May

It had been a long night. The apartment above the Nekozawa-Fujioka residence had been having problems with the plumbing for a while, but the night before, the pipes had finally ruptured and sent a torrent of disgusting standing water into the television area of the neighbors below. The deluge nearly gave poor Nekozawa a heart attack. You don't really expect a waterfall of sewer-water to suddenly crash through your ceiling when you're just watching a bit of the late-night comedy television show. Haruhi and Nekozawa had spent most of the night trying to resolve the problem and prevent further damage to their property, and had only gotten things to a tolerable level about an hour and a half before. In the meantime, the two of them were getting some well-deserved sleep.

At least, they were until the doorbell rang.

"Didja hear that?" a half-asleep Nekozawa slurred.

"Yeah," Haruhi replied. She looked at the clock, then shook her head. "But it couldn't be. Who would visit at 7:00 in the morning?"

"It was probably just Mrs. Tenzen's windchimes or something," Nekozawa said. The two of them laughed quietly together, then rolled over to go back to sleep. Or at least, that was the plan. The doorbell rang again five minutes later.

"I don't think I imagined it that time," Haruhi sighed. Nekozawa just grumbled and pulled a pillow over his head. Haruhi shook her head, bemused.

"You're really lazy, you know that?" She clambered out of bed and pulled a pair of tracksuit shorts on under her nightdress to give some added coverage, and stuffed her feet into the slippers that she kept by the bed. As she was trudging into the main room, the doorbell rang a third time. "All right, all right! Seriously, I'm coming!" She flung open the door, irritation evident on her face.

"You look like hell," Mei said, pushing past Haruhi to gain access to the apartment.

"Mei, what are you doing here?" Haruhi asked, a mixture of irritation and confusion coloring her tone.

"I'm here to get your measurements for your wedding dress," Mei replied. "Don't tell me you forgot! Remember, last week I said I'd be here on the 12th at 7:00 in the morning." Instantly, Haruhi felt slightly guilty. Of course. She had agreed to this, but with last night's plumbing incident, she had completely forgotten about her friend's visit.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"I get it. You were too busy being a lawyer to- hey ,what's that smell?" Mei abruptly changed topics.

"The reason I'm so tired," Haruhi explained, "is that last night the upstairs neighbors had a problem with their plumbing. The problem caused their pipes to leak through our ceiling, and it ruined the carpet in the television room. We did all we could but it still smells bad, and the carpet cleaners can't come until Tuesday."

"Damn," was all Mei said. Haruhi had to agree. "I guess this was a bad day for me to come, then," she mused. "Should I leave and come back later?"

"No, no, you took the trouble to come all the way out here," Haruhi replied.

"Are you sure?" Mei asked. "Because excuse me for saying so, but you look absolutely awful. Maybe you should just go back to sleep."

"Just take my measurements," Haruhi decided. "It shouldn't take more than about an hour, right? Then we can both get on with our days."

It didn't take an hour. Mei worked quickly, so it only took about twenty minutes for her to get the infomration she would need to make a perfectly fitting, unique, custom wedding dress for her friend. It might have gone quicker if Mei hadn't realized she'd forgotten her notebook, so they had to take some time to find a legal pad on Haruhi's desk that could be used to store the information. "Just wait, Haruhi! You're going to love it!"

"Thank you so much," Haruhi said sincerely. She really did appreciate Mei's trouble. Traveling all the way to the city from her small house in a rather remote area was probably a huge hassle for Mei, and Haruhi realized that there were probably a million other things that her friend would rather be doing on a Saturday morning. As if she had read her mind, Mei laughed.

"I know what you're thinking. You're feeling guilty since I came out here to find you half asleep and in a bad mood."

"Uh..." was all Haruhi could sa. She'd always known Mei was remarkably perceptive, but that was just crazy. Briefly, Haruhi wondered if her friend had been reading some of Nekozawa's books on telepathy. It would make a lot of sense, actually... Mei always seemed to know what she was thinking...

"I get it. Don't worry. Actually, the reason I suggested today was because I have to go to a doctor's appointment here in the city later today, so I was going to be here anyway," Mei explained. Haruhi nodded, even though she still didn't quite get it. Mei stepped into the entry area of the apartment and picked up her shoes. "I'll be back soon with some designs for you to choose from," she added just before she left.

"Wait!" Haruhi shouted. "Do you mind if we make this a little later? 7:00 in the morning is too early." Mei laughed.

"No problem," she said. "7:00 is usually too early for me, too."

"You wake up at 5:00 every day to sew!" Haruhi exclaimed, surprised.

"Yes, but to get into the city by 7:00 I have to wake up at 2:00 and get on the train that stops at every station in between here and there. Usually there's some problem somewhere down the line, which adds extra time to the trip. It takes hours."

"I'm sorry," Haruhi apologized. "I didn't realize that it was such a long reip for you."

"It's no trouble. But how about we make it 11:00 next time?" Mei suggested.

"Sure." The two women parted, and Haruhi trudged back to the bedroom to get some more much-needed lseep.

"What was that all about?" Nekozawa asked when his fiancee clambered into bed beside him.

"Mei. She was here to take my measurements," Haruhi explained. "I had forgotten about it."

"You let her in?" Nekozawa asked, horrified. "We haven't gotten the carpets cleaned yet!"

To Be Continued


	6. June

Chapter Six: June

Nekozawa and Haruhi had made one serious miscalculation in their wedding plans: not telling either of their families that they were getting married until halfway into the process. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED?" Ranka hollered into the phone the second after Haruhi had told him. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME EARLIER! AND WHO ARE YOU MARRYING, ANYWAY?"

"Umehito Nekozawa," Haruhi replied quietly. "I think you may have met him before- he went to Ouran with me, although he was in the year above me."

"Nekozawa... why does that name sound familiar..." Ranka let his voice trail off. "Oh! He's that boy with the black cloak, isn't he?"

"He only wears it some of the time now..." Haruhi said, feeling the need to defend her fiance. "And what does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing, nothing," Ranka replied. "It's just that I wanted to know who it was who's going to be marrying my daughter! Why, I've barely ever spoken to the man! Why should I just let anyone marry you, Haruhi? I don't want to just hand you over to someone who won't treat you well. How do you know that this boy is the right one for you?" Haruhi rolled her eyes. Typical overprotective father... she knew that he was only looking out for her, but it didn't make it any less complicated when it came to things like this. She was always worried about how her father would react to her friends... and in this case, lover.

"Dad, I love him. Umehito is one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and I think that we'll be very happy together. And I'm not just saying that. We really care about each other. I hope you will accept this, Dad." There was a sigh from the other end of the line.

"Haruhi, I only want you to be happy. However, I want to meet this Nekozawa before the wedding takes place," he said.

"Alright," Haruhi agreed. "We'll set up a time when neither of us is working."

Meanwhile, Nekozawa hadn't told his parents either. Kirimi knew, and in retrospect, Nekozawa should have known that she would be unable to keep something like that from their parents. But what he hadn't been expecting was a phone call while he was at work. He was concentrating on the mountain of paperwork that had piled up while his back was turned, when Sato poked his head in the office.

"Hey, Boss?"

"Let me guess: you pissed off Sakurazawa in IT again and he changed your password," Nekozawa snapped irritably. "Look, Sato, I don't have the time to mediate your disputes with the network admins. Oh, and if that secretary that was stalking you is up here, then don't bother me with it! Call building security!"

"Uh... no, that's not what I'm here for. There's a lady on the phone that says her name is Yekaterina Nekozawa... is she related to you?" Nekozawa immediately dropped his pen.

"What's she calling here for?" he demanded to know. "She rarely ever calls me, for anything, unless..." Immediately, he jumped out of his chair and rushed to the nearest phone extension, and picked it up. "Hello? Mom? Is everything OK? What are you calling me at work for?"

"Your sister told me that you have been engaged since January," Nekozawa's mother said, her voice lightly tinged with a faint Russian accent. "Why did you not tell me this? I've never even heard of this girl you intend to marry! What are you thinking, Umehito? Haven't we always discussed that you would marry a girl from one of the families we do business with?I don't mind if you don't wish to marry them, but shouldn't you have discussed this with the rest of the family first?"

"No, Mother," Nekozawa sighed. "I love Haruhi, and she's the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. At this point I really don't care what the rest of the family says. We're getting married." Mrs. Nekozawa laughed loudly.

"I have no doubt that is what you plan to do," she said. "But I would like to meet this Haruhi Fujioka before before the wedding. Is that too much to ask?"

"No, that's fine," Nekozawa replied. "But we're going to have to work around our schedules... she sometimes works odd hours and I'm drowning in paperwork."

"I don't really care when we meet," Mrs. Nekozawa said sharply, "as long as it's sometime before the wedding. The sooner the better, as well, but I understand that you both are very busy ."

* * *

Both of them hung up with their parents feeling very unnerved. It wasn't that they didn't get along with their parents, or even that they were worried that their parents wouldn't like their respective mates. It was just... probably not the smartest move to have put off telling them. God knows Ranka Fujioka was hyper-protective of his daughter, and Yekaterina Nekozawa was a bit of a busybody, everyone knew. If something went wrong, both of them knew that the two meddling parents would cause even more problems regarding the wedding.

To Be Continued

Author's Comments:

Yes. It's June 2, not June 1. But give me a break- it's the end of the school year, which means final projects and other bullshit for me regarding school, and double the work regarding my job since I'm busy stripping all of the programs people installed on the computers before the summer. I've barely had time to do much of anything recently- I feel like I'm running about like a crazy person. Oh well.

Also, there's an ice cream truck driving around, and it's driving me crazy, because I can't eat ice cream at this time in the day or it will upset my stomach, and it's _really freakin' loud. _

I'm sorry this chapter is so short and nothing but dialogue. It will be getting more interesting next time, I promise.

-Kaboom


	7. July

Chapter Seven: July

As she had promised, Mei returned with several wedding dress prototypes for Haruhi to choose from. She ended up deciding on a rather conservative design reminiscent of dresses from the 19th century England. "Leave it to you to choose the most complicated one," Mei teased. "I'll get started on making the adjustments right away."

Although that was one less thing to worry about, both Nekozawa and Haruhi had a very stressful week. Sato had accidentally deleted a very important spreadsheet, so Nekozawa had been running around like a chicken with its head cut off to try to recreate the data, and Haruhi had two trials in one week. So they decided to take their weekend and relax. They had rented as many DVDs as they could carry, ordered take out, and had settled themselves down on the sofa for a night of wild and reckless DVD watching. They were fifteen minutes into _Happy Feet_ when the doorbell rang.

"Maybe if we don't answer it, whoever it is will go away," Nekozawa suggested.

"Yeah, right," Haruhi replied. "I wish. But you know the same people I know, and they won't go away just because we don't answer the door." She heaved herself off the sofa, and barely got the door open before she was nearly bowled over by the two Hitachiin twins.

"What do you want?" Nekozawa demanded to know, less than pleased that the two had forced their way into the apartment. Were they raised in a barn by unbelievably dumb wolves? No, even unbelievably dumb wolves raised in barns had enough sense not to barge into people's homes yelling like a bunch of drunk monkeys. Hikaru sniffed.

"Like we can't visit our friend to tell her some good news." Nekozawa looked like he wanted to beat Hikaru upside the head, but he thankfully had enough control over his emotions to refrain from doing so.

"Haruhi!" Kaoru exclaimed joyfully. "We bought you a wedding dress, and we're going to organize your bachelorette party! It''ll be great! You'll have to enjoy your last night as an unmarried woman, so we're going to get a couple of male strippers for you! And of course you'll have to remember _us_, we won't let you get married until we give you a proper send-off!" Haruhi stole a glance at her fiance, who looked like he was about ready to erupt. How dare those obnoxious men make such disgusting suggestions regarding his fiancee? They made it sound like Haruhi was some sort of whore! No one spoke about her that way,, not while he was around!

"Um, guys..." Haruhi began, but Hikaru cut her off.

"We got you this strapless dress with a four-foot train," he said. "It's white, of course, you can't get married in a dress that isn't white!"

"But Hikaru," Kaoru said. "She's living with him! Is she still even able to wear white at her wedding?"

"Everyone wears white at their wedding, idiot," Hikaru retorted. "No one gives any notice to that rule! You see divorcees with eleven kids wearing white on their wedding day! And if you follow that old rule, they are _definitely_ not eligible to wear a white dress! No, the thing she can't wear white to is the bachelorette party! What's the point, you know? Especially considering how we're going to set it up!"

"Hikaru, Kaoru," Haruhi said, more forcefully this time. Again, neither brother paid any attention to her.

"Even so, don't you think it's more charming when that rule is followed for the wedding?" Kaoru asked.

"GUYS!" Haruhi finally hollered. "I DON'T NEED A DRESS! And I don't need to have a party. The night before the wedding, I think I'm going to have to work, anyway."

"Please tell me you're not getting married in that tracksuit you're wearing," Hikaru said distastefully, completely ignoring the second half of Haruhi's statement.

"What do you mean, you don't need a dress?" Kaoru asked. "Every bride needs a dress! And if you even think about wearing that tracksuit I'm going to kill you!"

"No, no, it's not that..." Haruhi replied hesitantly. She really wasn't sure as to how the overbearing twins would react when she told them that she didn't need their help with the dress, and even moreso when she shot down their insane bachelorette party idea.

"What is it, then?" Hikaru asked, peering closely at her.

"Mei is already making my dress," Haruhi said quickly. "And I have to work the night before my wedding, so your party idea won't be able to happen. I do appreciate the sentiment, though. Since you paid for that dress, how much do I owe you? I don't want your money to be wasted." Both of the twins looked at her for a moment, and then comprehension set in.

"WHAT?" Hikaru howled. "How could you do this to us? We wanted to make your wedding special! We picked out your dress especially for you! And what kind of bride doesn't even have a party to celebrate her last night as a single woman? Do you even have any idea as to how to get married? Are you crazy?"

"How could you, Haruhi?" Kaoru muttered. "How could you waste your final night like that? Who works the night before their wedding? Do lawyers even have to work at night?"

"Uh, I''m sorry," Haruhi said. "I didn't realize that it was going to upset you so much..."

"Well, it did," Hikaru replied. "You're such a bitch, Haruhi, and here you are marrying Mr. Creepy here. If you had married one of us this never would have happened! You'd better think this through, Haruhi, or you're going to end up a miserable middle-aged housewife like in those television dramas!"

"Hikaru..." Kaoru warned. "Don't cross that line..."

"He already did," a dark, angry voice growled. Nekozawa had jumped to his feet, eyes blazing with pure, unadulterated fury. "He already crossed it. What business is it of yours who Haruhi gets her wedding dress from? And it's certainly none of your business what Haruhi does the night before, the night of, or any night after the wedding! You have no right to call her a bitch for choosing something of her own accord. She does not have to answer to you for anything. Now either you get the hell out of my apartment or you apologize to Haruhi then get the hell out.

"It took a lot of work to get this dress!" Hikaru yelled. "And we only took this on because we felt bad for Haruhi! She's such a charity case that I couldn't just leave her without doing anything! But fine, see if I care! Although she should have known better than to marry someone like you!"

"Nekozawa was right," Kaoru said disgustedly. "You _are_ out of line. Haruhi can do as she pleases." Turning to Nekozawa and Haruhi, he bowed slightly and said, "I apologize. We'll leave now," he announced formally.

"Um... OK," Haruhi replied. Nekozawa nodded curtly, and without further ado, Kaoru dragged his still-fuming brother out the door.

Once they were gone, Nekozawa turned to his fiancee and asked, "What was that about?"

"Don't ask me," Haruhi answered. "I _never_ know what goes through their minds."

To Be Continued


	8. August

Chapter Eight: August

"I still don't know why you care so much," Nekozawa said, after Haruhi had spent most of the week trying to get in touch with Hikaru. As far as Nekozawa was concerne,d the waste of space _knew_ that Haruhi was upset about how things had gone, and really wanted to make amends, but the asshole wasn't picking up his cell phone at all. "If he's just going act this way, then you're better off just forgetting about him. I never liked those twins anyway- so obnoxious..."

"Maybe so, but they're still my friends," Haruhi replied, "and I don't want our relationship to end this way."

"Maybe you don't, but if only one person cares about keeping up the relationship, then there's not really much you can do, you know? You're better off cutting ties, before it ends up hurting you more," Nekozawa retorted, "I don't want to see you depressed over a guy like him- he doesn't deserve your kindness. You've been more than accommodating to Hikaru's tantrum, and you're still on good terms with Kaoru aren't you?"

"Yeah..." Haruhi said, voice trailing off. "I just don't want to give up yet. We've been friends for so long, you know, it's a shame to let eleven years of that go to waste." Nekozawa just nodded, not trusting himself to reply. He'd always respected Haruhi's decisions, but now... well, he'd never particularly liked the Hitachiin brothers, although Kaoru was slightly more tolerable than Hikaru. He'd never understood how Haruhi managed to put up with them for so long. Honestly, he would have told them both to fuck off a long time ago. Although right now, he felt like going out and kicking some ass. Hikaru had really upset Haruhi. He hadn't seen her this depressed since she failed the first law exam. "Well, if he doesn't call back, don't get too upset," he eventually said. "If he doesn't contact you soon, he's not worth it."

* * *

"Are you just going to sit around here complaining about how your life is so unfair?" Kaoru snapped. Hikaru hadn't gotten off the couch in the apartment they shared for three days, still pouting about Haruhi's dismissal of him. "You really have nothing to be upset about- you really did act like a dick back there."

"I did not!" Hikaru yelled. "Haruhi is just being lazy! What kind of woman doesn't even want to celebrate her own wedding?"

"Have you forgotten about everything that happened already?" Kaoru snorted. "You insulted her fiance, and said she should have married one of us! I know you never got over her, but seriously, that was uncalled for. No wonder she got angry. And then you never asked her to celebrate her wedding- you got mad because she said she didn't want to have a bachelorette party, which she gave a perfectly reasonable explanation for. She didn't want to have it because she had to work!"

"Bullshit!" Hikaru exploded. "Here I am offering something nice to show that I'm totally fine with her marrying whoever she wants, and then she rejects it! She not only rejects it, but she picks it up and tosses it on the ground, then stomps on it!"

"Oh, don't be so damn dramatic," Kaoru rolled his eyes. "She's not like us, where we just get paid every month from mom and dad. She actually works, and lawyers keep different hours than us." Hikaru sniffed and picked up the TV guide, determined to ignore anything else his brother said, but that proved to be a tall order.

"Are you sure you want things to end like this? You've known Haruhi for eleven years, and you spent ten of those in love with her."

"Yeah, ten wasted years, she chose that creepy occult-obsessed freak over us!"

"She didn't mean to disrespect you by choosing Nekozawa," Kaoru said calmly. "You know as well as I do that you can't choose who you fall in love with. Why else do you think Kyoya and Renge got married? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't for the money, they're both loaded."

"I still think that was the biggest mistake of his life," Hikaru sniffed. "He never cared about her before!"

"People change, Hikaru. People grow up. Something that _you_ really need to do."

"Don't tell me I need to grow up!" Hikaru shouted. "Especially since I did nothing wrong in the first place!"

"You keep telling yourself that," Kaoru replied. "I'm sure Haruhi will eventually come to forgive you."

* * *

Several days later, Haruhi was in court, and Nekozawa had taken the day off. Sato had promised that he could handle everything, and Nekozawa allowed him to take over for the day, after making him promise that he wouldn't go anywhere near where the spreadsheets were saved, to prevent another catastrophic deletion. So, Nekozawa had taken the day off to prepare a nice dinner for Haruhi when she got home from court, and take the time to catch up on his Tivo. He had a _ton_ of recorded television shows piling up that he needed to watch.

He had just put the pork buns into the steamer and was starting to watch _Secrets of Mayan Astrology_ when the doorbell rang. Thinking it to be the mailman with a package or something, he flung open the door, only to come face-to-face with Hikaru Hitachiin.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked. Hikaru shifted from foot to foot.

"Is Haruhi home?" he asked. Nekozawa raised an eyebrow.

"It's 4:00 PM on a Tuesday. Of course she's not at home, she's at work! And don't bother trying her office, either," he said, almost nastily. "Seeing as that she is in court today, she won't be there." Hikaru looked around nervously.

"What time do you think she'll be back?"

"Hopefully by 7:00, why do you care?"

"I really need to talk to her!" Hikaru exclaimed. Nekozawa snorted.

"If you really need to talk to her, how come you've been ignoring her calls? She's been very upset and wants to make things right with you, why I can't imagine. And _now_ you want to talk to her? What, did your mummy and daddy cut you off and you need a loan now?"

Hikaru took a deep breath, using all of his strength to avoid smacking the obnoxious man upside the head. Yes, after several days of contemplation he'd come to the conclusion that he had been a right asshole, but who was Umehito Nekozawa to point that out? But in the interest of making amends, he held his tongue.

"No. I figured out that I was in the wrong-" he began, before Nekozawa cut him off.

"It's about time! Haruhi has practically been crying over you, why I cannot imagine," he interrupted. Hikaru felt as though he'd been slapped. Not by Nekozawa, no- he hadn't known that Haruhi had been _that_ upset by his behavior. Hell, she was used to Tamaki and his fickle moods, what was different about this time? Yeah, he was in the wrong, but he certainly hadn't expected that much of a backlash. "She has always considered you and her brother to be among her best friends," Nekozawa continued. "She was extremely depressed about possibly losing your friendship."

"I'll be back at seven!" Hikaru exclaimed, turning tail and running. "See you then!"

* * *

At 7:00 sharp, the doorbell rang again. Haruhi still wasn't home, so feeling very stupid for the whole thing, Nekozawa invited Hikaru into the apartment. "If you do anything stupid, I will not hesitate to toss you out," he warned. Hikaru nodded, not planning to do anything stupid.

About another forty-five minutes passed before the front lock clicked, the door creaked open, and Haruhi called out, "I'm home!" She walked into the main part of the apartment, still talking. "I thought I was never going to get out of there... Judge Ootsuka took forever to reach a verdict." But she froze in her tracks as soon as she spotted Hikaru sitting on the sofa, giant bunch of flowers in hand. "...What are you doing here?" she asked cautiously.

"I let him in," Nekozawa replied.

"I'm so sorry!" Hikaru exclaimed. "I've been a selfish ass, and I reacted without thinking about your feelings! I'm so sorry!" He extended the bunch of flowers to Haruhi, who took them, looking slightly confused, if not mollified. "I was an idiot for rejecting your calls," he continued. "Please, I'm so sorry." Haruhi smiled gently.

"It's alright," she finally said. "Just... just try to be a bit more sensitive next time. It's not like I actually _want_ to work the night before my wedding."

To Be Continued


	9. September

Chapter Nine: September

"I still can't believe that those two manage to make a go of their business," Nekozawa said to Haruhi. The two of them were going to the small bakery owned by Reiko and Hunny to pick out wedding cakes. The owners of the shop had kindly shut down for that day so that they could have a tasting for their friends. They were going to present the soon-to-be married couple with the full selection of the cakes they offered as a favor. Haruhi shrugged.

"You know, they work together pretty well," she replied. "It's because they make such a good team that the Dark Rose Bakery has done so well. And you know that after Reiko had that molar pregnancy, Hunny finally got everything together and decided that he was going to behave like a responsible adult now." Nekozawa nodded, not completely convinced.

"I thought they never figured out who the father was."

"well, there was no _father_, exactly," Haruhi said, "Seeing as there was not any baby to begin with. And what do you mean, they never figured out who the father was? There was only person it could have been, and that was Hunny."

"I thought Reiko was seeing that other guy, that DJ?" Nekozawa asked. "Couldn't it have been him?" Haruhi shook her head.

"They had broken up nearly a month before the incident," she replied. Nekozawa shook his head.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I just think that the two of them should have been more careful. Reiko almost died! And if they'd been more careful that never would happened." Haruhi nodded.

"It was very frightening, especially for everyone who cared about her. But she recovered, didn't she, and the two of them get along much better now. It's just a shame that something like that had to happen before they got over their differences and started to work together."

Before too long, they arrivd at the bakery, and an enthusiastic Mitsukuni Haninozuka bounded out the door to give Haruhi a big hug, and a powerful handshake to Nekozawa. "I'm so glad you're here!" he exclaimed. "There's all kinds of delicious cake for you to sample in there!"

"And best of all, it's free of charge for you two," a slower, deeper, but still unmistakably female voice said. "Nothing but the best for my friends."

"Oh, you don't have to do that-" Haruhi began, but the other woman cut across her protest.

"You're not paying for the samples. You can make it up to me by buying the biggest damn cake we sell here, alright?" Haruhi and Nekozawa laughed at that.

"Alright, Reiko-chan," Nekozawa said. "We'll order the largest cake you sell, and we'll even add the food-grade silver and gold to it if it makes you happy." The dark-haired woman smiled.

"You always did know what to say. Umehito," she laughed. "Come in, come in, no need to stand out here."

* * *

When the soon-to-be married couple stepped into the shop, they both had to bite back a gasp. The two owners of the shop had really outdone themselves. There must have been a hundred and one kinds of cake in there! "I... I can't accept this for free," Haruhi said. "You went to such lengths and you're not even going to charge us..." Hunny just waved his hands dismissively.

"I don't care! Like Reiko-chan said, all you need to do is buy a big cake."

"Why don't you try this one?" Reiko suggested, handing a square of cake to Haruhi. "It's vanilla cake covered with raspberry-flavored chocolate ganache." Haruhi took a bite of the cake, and her eyes widened.

"You've got to try this!" she exclaimed, handing the square to Nekozawa, who wrinkled his nose.

"You know I hate raspberry..." he said. As soon as she heard that, Reiko snatched the cake away from Haruhi and put it on a counter.

"Hey..." Haruhi protested.

"He doesn't like raspberry, that's not a problem," the other woman dismissed. "There's plenty of other ckaes to try!"

"But... but I want to eat the rest of it," Haruhi pouted. Hunny laughed.

"It's not a problem," he said. "There's plenty of cake for everyone to eat, and you can take it home with you so you can have cake for the next week!"

"Haninozuka-" Nekozawa said. "That's enough cake to last us until NEXT September. Not everyone eats cake the way you do..." Hunny just looked at him, confused.

"You can't eat that amount of cake in a week?"

"This is a lemon chiffon cake with lemon vodka-infused vanilla frosting," Reiko said, selecting a different cake square. This time, Nekozawa was the lucky cake recipient. Tentatively he took a bite, and gasped audibly.

"This is amazing, Reiko-chan!" he exclaimed, handing the cake to Haruhi, who took a bite. She agreed with him.

"If you liked that one, here's a white-chocolate cake covered with white-chocolate fondant," Hunny said, picking the next cake. Haruhi really liked that one, but Nekozawa thought it was too much of a white-chocolate overdose.

A few hours went by and both Haruhi and Nekozawa had very different ideas of what the cake should be. Haruhi liked the red velvet cake and the tiramisu-inspired cake, while Nekozawa stuck to the lemon cake and a traditional white cake with one little twist- the whole thing was soaked in champagne.

"Well, this is a problem..." Nekozawa said.

"Not necessarily," Reiko replied. "All we have to do is make a tiered cake with each of your selections as a tier. That way, everyone's happy!"

"Reiko. I do think you're a genius," Nekozawa replied, lavishing praise on his friend. Reiko gave him a sideways glance.

"You'd best not be talking like that in front of your fiancee, she'll get the wrong idea, you know." Haruhi rolled her eyes.

"No worries there," she said. Then, it was Hunny's turn to look at her.

"If someone was talking like that to Reiko-chan, I'd be pissed! But I know that Nekozawa doesn't mean it, so it's OK. I don't know how you can just let stuff like that go!"

"Oh, are you two back together?" Nekozawa asked. Reiko giggled and blushed. Nekozawa took that as a yes.

Eventually, they placed the order, and the two of them went off together. With several pounds of cake in tow. "I don't think we'll be able to eat all this..." Haruhi said, rather disappointed. "Such a waste..."

"I'll take it to work with me," Nekozawa replied. "Sato will eat it. I know that much."

To Be Continued

Author's Comments:

I am posting this a day early because I live half an hour from the ocean beach now, and five minutes away from a major river that has been known to give hurricanes strength, and we don't really know if we're going to have to evacuate because of Hurricane Earl. I don't know if I'm going to have Internet access even if we don't evacuate...

I used to live in Washington D.C. and we never had to worry about this kind of thing there. I guess living near the seaside has its drawbacks, even though I do love the ocean.

-Kaboom


	10. October

Chapter Ten: October

Sevastiana Evdikimova was not the kind of woman who you wanted to cross. Growing up, she had to forage for food in the Soviet Union. When she married Hyobe Nekozawa. The family hadn't approved of their son marrying some random Russian woman, not when they had already picked out a daughter from a auto manufacturing family for him to marry. Despite this, she pushed on, and eventually rose to the second-in-command of the Nekozawa firearms manufacturing company (it probably helped that back in Russia, her father had been part of the military and she had a good understanding of weapons), after Saburo Yamawaki, the vice-president of the company, retired. Now she ran the company alongside her husband, and anyone who had half a brain in their head knew it- angering the matriarch of the Nekozawa Firearms Group was a Very Bad Idea.

She had always expected that she would help plan her son's wedding to a wonderful girl, and that it would be the perfect, fairy-tale wedding. Despite the fact that Umehito was entrenched in the darkness (it seemed to be a Nekozawa thing- both of her in-laws had been very into the occult prior to their deaths, and Hyobe dabbled from time to time), she would make sure he had the perfect wedding, the wedding she had always dreamed of as a little girl, and never got to have because of the circumstances of her own marriage.

So imagine her surprise when she checked the mail one morning. It was the usual junk mail- catalogs for housewares, the cell phone bill, and some political mailer, but something caught her eye. It was a pretty, pale pink envelope with pretty gold calligraphy adorning the address. Curiously, she opened the paperwork, and immediately, her eyes almost popped out of her sockets.

**You are cordially invited to the wedding of **

**Miss Haruhi Fujioka **

**and **

**Mr. Umehito Nekozawa **

**on the 31st December, 20XX , 1:00 PM **

**at St. Isabel's Cathedral **

**19232 2nd Street **

**Reception to be followed at Blue Bunny Cafe. **

**Please respond by November 10. **

Sevastiana blinked. Then her mouth opened to form a perfect O shape. "KIRIMI!" she finally bellowed. "KIRIMI! GET DOWN HERE!" The young woman hurried down the stairs, looking worriedly at her mother.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

"I want to know- is _this_ why you've been spending so much time on the phone with your older brother over the past few months?" she asked, thrusting the invitation out at her daughter. "Tell me- did you know about this?"

"Yeah..." Kirimi began. "Didn't he tell you?"

"No, he did not tell me! I didn't even know he was still seeing that Fujioka girl! I thought they broke up years ago!"

Kirimi couldn't help but think to herself, _Of course they wouldn't have told you, not with the way you try to micromanage everything around you. I wouldn't have told you either!" _But not being suicidal, Kirimi didn't say that. Instead, she just asked, "Are you going to go?"

"No, I am not going to go! Not if I can help it!" Sevastiana exploded. "He's making the biggest mistake of his life by marrying some … some common girl! He has the company to look after!"

"But mom, Big Brother doesn't even work for the company! He's working for a completely different business! I don't even think he wants to be a firearms manufacturer," Kirimi countered. And she had to think, _Mom, you were that "common girl" back when you married Dad... aren't you being hypocritical?_ But again, she didn't really feel like being caught up in her mother's explosive temper, so she held her tongue.

"Well, I always expected he would end up at the family company! And, well, if he doesn't take over, there's still you! But I only have one son, I don't want to lose him to the first gold-digger that comes his way!"

"I think you should talk to him," Kirimi said quickly, trying to calm her mother down. "I think that you're making a mistake by dismissing him so quickly... he really loves her. And she's not a gold-digger... she's an attorney and makes as much money as he does."  
"I don't care!" Sevastiana yelled. "I don't want my son to throw his life away!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Fujioka residence, Ranka opened his mailbox and sighed. More of the usual crap. Bills, bills, bills, catalog, more bills, political mailers, another catalog, and a pink envelope. Thinking it was an invitation to some party someone at work was having, he opened it, expecting to see announcement about a party at Sayuri's apartment or Misuzu's bed-and-breakfast. He definitely did not expect to see what he did.

**You are cordially invited to the wedding of **

**Miss Haruhi Fujioka **

**and **

**Mr. Umehito Nekozawa **

**on the 31st December, 20XX , 1:00 PM **

**at St. Isabel's Cathedral **

**19232 2nd Street **

**Reception to be followed at Blue Bunny Cafe. **

**Please respond by November 10. **

He stumbled back into his apartment, and dropped the mail on the table, before going to the fridge and grabbing a beer. Yeah, he had to work later, and no, he didn't usually make a habit of getting plastered before work. But these were extenuating circumstances. His little girl was getting married, to a guy he'd only met once and had honestly been creeped out by him. That Nekozawa boy had been dressed up in some creepy black cloak and had been carrying around some creepy little cat-puppet-thing. That had been several years ago, and he had been sure that the two of them had been broken up for some time now. Haruhi had moved apartments, and he thought she had moved after the break-up.

But this? They were getting married in two months and no one had bothered to tell him? No one had even bothered to tell him that the two of them were still together.

He was still trying to parse this information when his cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Ranka! It's Misuzu!" his friend's loud voice cried out through the speaker. "Haruhi is getting MARRIED!"

"Yeah, I know," Ranka replied. "Did you know about it?"

"Of course! Mei's been making Haruhi's wedding dress for months now! It's so beautiful!"

"Wait, you knew Haruhi was engaged?"

"You're saying you didn't?"

"No..." Ranka let his voice trail off.

"Well, you have nothing to worry about," Misuzu said. "I've met Mr. Nekozawa and he's a perfectly reasonable young man. And he's got a stable job with the possibility to take over his family business. Haruhi will be set for life!"

"Nekozawa... why does that sound so familiar. What family business?"

"Nekozawa Firearms Manufacturing," Misuzu replied, "although I don't think he works there now. I do know he has a pretty good job, though."

"I'm going to need to speak to them," Ranka decided. "I need to know- do they have a plan? What are they going to do about the marriage? What about grandchildren?"

"Isn't it a bit early to be thinking about grandchildren?" Misuzu asked, shocked.  
"It's never too early to be thinking about grandchildren," replied Ranka.

To Be Continued

Author's Comments:

I'm so sorry this is so late, it's what, October 5th? September has kind of been the month from hell, and it looks like October is going to be the same way. Exams, a break-in (they didn't steal anything other than food out of our fridge and some quarters), floods, a utility fire, a hurricane, illness- pretty much everything that could have possibly gone wrong has gone wrong, and I'm honestly exhausted. When I'm not working I'm in meetings or studying, and what free time I do have has been spent watching television, because I'm too tired to really do much else.

And there's not really any interaction with Nekozawa and Haruhi here in this chapter, but you cou;dn't honestly think that the parental units wouldn't make an appearance. I don't know a whole lot about Nekozawa's family other than Kirimi, but I do know that at least one side of his family is Russian, so I made it be his mother (Nekozawa is a Japanese surname, so his dad would be at least ½ Japanese). As for the name Sevastiana? It's my grandmother's sister's name, but my family is Lithuanian, so I don't know if it's in use in Russia or not (my grandmother's name, Ykaterina, is in use in both countries, so I figured that maybe in both?) And the firearms manufacturing? It's mentioned in the manga that Nekozawa can trace his family back to the Tokarev family in Russia, and Tokarev manufactures pistols, so I guess it would make sense?

Thanks for reading and I'm sorry for the delay.

Edit: Durk, I must be more tired than I thought. Thanks to MayContainRandomness for pointing out a very stupid error.

-Kaboom


	11. November

Chapter Eleven: November

Haruhi and Nekozawa had intended to tell their parents about their engagement months ago. However, both were afraid of how their parents would react, and as such, that fear kept them from explaining the situation. Eventually, when it was time to send out the invitations, they just decided to do it that way, since it would reduce unnecessary confrontation. "My mom will get over it," Nekozawa said. "And this way I won't have to listen to her yell at me for hours on end. She'll find out through the invitation, and that will be that."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Haruhi had asked, not completely convinced. "I know my dad will overreact no matter what we do, but he might be even more upset if he finds out through the mail." Nekozawa shuddered.

"There's a reason I haven't introduced you to my parents," he explained. "My dad won't care- trust me, the only thing he cares about are guns and what's on television on any given night. But my mother is a different story. She's... ah... she likes to be in control, and she's going to be pissed that we didn't let her know about this. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she had a completely different girl picked out for me. It's not really anything against you, it's just that she expects to be the one in charge of everything. Even when I was a child she was always discussing things with the mothers of other kids- 'Maybe my Umehito will marry your little Madoka, what do you think, Uematsu-san?' Never mind that Madoka Uematsu hated my guts, even when we were children- my mom thought she was doing the right thing and wasn't about to take no for an answer."

"But... I thought your parents married against the wishes of your father's parents?" Haruhi queried. "I remember you told me about them a few years ago,"

"It doesn't matter," Nekozawa replied. "To my mom, it doesn't matter if she and my father went against tradition by marrying. She wasn't me- she's always expected that her children would follow exactly what she wants."

"You really think she'll be that opposed to our wedding?" Haruhi asked.

"I honestly don't know," Nekozawa answered. "I'd be willing to guess that yes, she would be extremely angry with me, but she could surprise me. That's why I think I'm just going to let her find out through the invitation. By then it will be too late for her to do anything, even if she does want to."

Nekozawa's words weren't exactly reassuring to Haruhi, but she decided to trust him. Obviously he knew his mother better than she did, seeing as they'd never even met. But still, Haruhi was slightly uncomfortable with the idea of not telling her father until he got the envelope in the mail. She fully intended to call him as soon as the invitation had been dropped in the mailbox.

Unfortunately, life happened, and she never got the chance.

* * *

That had been almost a month before, and neither of the soon-to-be-married couple heard back from their families, until one night, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it, it's probably Mei," Haruhi said, seeing as the other woman was supposed to show up that day for a final fitting on Haruhi's dress. But instead, Haruhi found a well-dressed, older man standing on the welcome mat, looking rather nervous. "Can I help you?" she asked politely, not sure who the man was or what she wanted. He looked at her.

"Is my son at home?" he asked. "Umehito Nekozawa- is he here? I need to speak with him."

"Um, sure," Haruhi replied, stepping to the side. The man walked into the apartment, just as Nekozawa came into the main living area.

"What's going on- DAD!" he exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"What were you thinking, getting married without telling your mother?" Hyobe Nekozawa yelled. "She's been furious ever since she got that invitation a few weeks ago! She's got some plan to stop your wedding- and before I ask, I don't know anything about it, except that she's ordered a background check on your fiancee. By the way, Ms. Fujioka, it's nice to meet you. I'm just sorry we couldn't meet under less awkward circumstances."

"Uh... yeah. Likewise," Haruhi replied faintly,

"Well, if she's running a background check, she won't find anything," Nekozawa replied. "Haruhi's never been arrested, or gone to jail- I don't even think she's even gotten a traffic ticket!" Then he frowned slightly. "By the way, how did you know where I lived, dad? I'm unlisted."

"I knew approximately where you lived, and I asked Kirimi for the exact address," the older man replied. "Sorry. You know I value your privacy, but I thought I should warn you in person, or your mother might find out. When she's in a state like this, it's best to try to avoid making her angrier."

"Yeah..." Nekozawa shuddered, unbidden memories of times past that he had upset his mother floating to the forefront of his mind. Mr. Nekozawa leaned forward to awkwardly embrace his son.

"By the way, I never said 'congratulations' yet. It would be hypocritical of me to be upset about you not telling us sooner, considering the circumstances under which I married your mother." And with that, he left through the front door, leaving both his son and his son's fiancee blinking after him.

"You weren't kidding when you said all that about your mom," Haruhi finally said.

"I told you I wasn't exaggerating," Nekozawa mumbled.

* * *

"Mr. Fujioka, I seriously think you've gone off the deep end," Mei said bluntly, watching as her friend's father fussed with his makeup and hair in the mirror. "And I really don't have time to wait around for your to get ready to go. I told Haruhi that I'd be there almost an hour ago. And what are you even doing, anyway? Even my father doesn't wear that much makeup for a special event..."

"You don't understand," Ranka replied heatedly, still applying cosmetics to his face. "I'm not doing this to look good, I'm doing this to make sure that the guy marrying my daughter actually deserves her! If he sees me like this, and if I act as obnoxious as I possibly can, and he still wants to marry her, then he's the right guy." Mei snorted.

"You're wasting your time," she said. "And besides, haven't you already met him?"

"Yes, but that was several years ago," Ranka replied. "Who knows if he's changed or not? He-"

"I can assure that other than wearing his cloak less, he's still the same guy that he was in high school," Mei interrupted before Ranka could continue. "Honestly, you could be Godzilla and he'd still want to marry Haruhi. He's just that type of person."

"We'll see about that," Ranka muttered, more to himself than to Mei.

* * *

Nekozawa and Haruhi both sat on the sofa, blankly staring at the television, not really watching the news. The sudden, random arrival of Nekozawa's father with that rather odd news had shaken them both up badly. "You don't think your mother will do anything, do you?" Haruhi asked.

"I don't know," Nekozawa replied, worry clear in his voice. "She's not a violent person, if that's what you're asking, but she does have a good amount of influence and could make things complicated until we actually get married. I'm not worried about her doing research on you, since you have nothing that's messed up your record, but still... I'm more worried about what she could do to _me. _She's never really forgiven me for not working at the family company, anyway- she might try to cause problems for me at work."

"I'm sorry," Haruhi apologized. Nekozawa blinked.

"What for? You didn't do anything."

"Maybe if you had married someone who was a better match for you- from the same social level- she wouldn't be doing this," Haruhi sighed. "I guess this just caused a lot of problems for you, huh?"

"Shut up!" Nekozawa exclaimed, surprising Haruhi. "You haven't done anything wrong, and it wouldn't matter what social class you were from- I'd still want to marry you. And my mom is just being hypocritical, anyway- she definitely wasn't from any upper tier of society when she married my father. No, this is her being angry because I didn't let her micromanage this part of my life. And soon enough my dad will get her calmed down, anyway." The two of them sat in silence for a little while, thinking about the future and what possible problems could be caused by their decision to marry, when for the second time that night, the doorbell rang.

"That's probably Mei," Haruhi said. "I'll get it." She opened the door, and indeed, Mei was there, but standing next to her friend was her father. Dressed up even more than he did for special events at his work."

"Um... hello, dad," she said. "What... what are you doing here?"

"HAURHI!" he squealed, rushing forward and giving her a gigantic hug. "Papa came to see you and meet your fiance! You're getting married next month, and I thought I'd give you hair and makeup tips, while Mei finishes up measuring you for your dress!" Haruhi shot a glance at Mei, who shrugged.

"_I couldn't keep him from coming,"_ she whispered. "_He just kind of got in my car and wouldn't get out. Said he absolutely had to see you." _

"Dad, if this is about you being upset because I didn't tell you I was engaged sooner, I'm sorry, it seriously just slipped my mind," Haruhi said quickly. "And you look like you just came from work- is everything alright?"

"What, I can't come visit my daughter?" Ranka asked. "I just wanted to help you plan your wedding!"

"Haruhi?" Nekozawa called. "What's going on? Is Mei here?"

"Yeah, Mei's here," Haruhi yelled back. "And so is my dad." Nekozawa muttered something incomprehensible, and walked into the main area.

"Hi, Mei. Hello, Mr.- _woah_- Fujioka." He took a step back upon seeing Haruhi's father. He'd known about his hobbies and lifestyle, having met him before, but nothing could have prepared him for this. Ranka Fujioka was standing in the entryway, decked out in a full-on European style wedding dress, complete with veil and boquet, and was wearing an entire Shiseido counter on his face, or at least that's what it seemed like to Nekozawa. He had what looked like chandeliers dangling from his ears, and seemed to be rather drunk, seeing as he had a bottle of wine poking out of his handbag.

"Um, you look very... festive," he said, trying to say something without seeming rude. Ranka just grinned widely.

"Why, yes I do! Thank you very much!"

"Dad, Mei... why don't you come in?" Haruhi said, ushering them into the apartment. "Have a seat... I'll get some snacks or something." As soon as the two guests were comfortably seated on the sofa, Haruhi disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Nekozawa with the two of them.

"Oh, I just love what you've done with the place!" Ranka exaggeratedly exclaimed, gushing over everything from the carpet to the curtains to, bizzarely, the ceiling. Then, he took the wine bottle out of his handbag and drank a large slug from it. "So, have you been physically intimate with my daughter? I need to know before I can allow you to marry her."

"Gaaaack!" Nekozawa choked on his own saliva at that question, while Mei looked horrified.

"Mr. Fujioka! Seriously!"

"What? It's a legitimate question! I just wanted to know why you two felt the need to hide the engagement from me! Oh my god, is Haruhi pregnant?"

"DAD!" Haruhi yelled, coming into the room. "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you drunk?"

"Haruhi, sweetie, has this man done anything to you? How do you know he's not just using you? What if he really doesn't love you? What if it's all just a trick? I just want you to be as happy as your mother and I were."

"Mr. Fujioka." Nekozawa stood up and bowed deeply, causing the older man to immediately shut up. "I understand if you do not support the two of us being together. My mother does not support this union either. But I promise to you that I truly love Haruhi, and that I will do my best to make sure that she is happy and safe with me. And quite honestly, no one, not my mother, and not you, will be able to do anything to change what I feel for your daughter." Ranka burst out laughing, leaving Haruhi hanging her head, and Nekozawa confused and upset.

"You pass," he finally said, once he managed to stop laughing. "You pass. You obviously care about my daughter and are willing to accept her even if her father doesn't approve, which means that you have my blessing. And sorry about the way I acted. I'm not actually drunk- there's just grape juice in that bottle." Then, he took the veil off of his head and laid it on the table. "Damn, that thing is itchy."

"Uh..." was all that the three young people were able to say. Ranka clapped his hands.

"Now that we're all sorted out, how about you and Mei get started on that fitting, and I'll speak to Mr. Nekozawa here," he said. "Come on, chop chop, let's get going!"

To Be Completed

Author's Comments:

Holy crap this chapter is a lot longer than I thought it would be, and the next one (the final one) is even longer. Oh well. Honestly, with everything that's been going on here around lately (check my profile for the details if you're curious), I'm surprised I was able to write this as long as it is and get it posted on schedule.

I really don't have a whole lot else to say, other than that this was fun to write, especially Ranka's "test." He just wanted to make sure that Nekozawa really cared about Haruhi, and was willing to act as obnoxious as possible to make sure that was the case.

Oh, and by the way, the next chapter is the last one- the resolution, the wedding, and Sevastiana coming to terms with the fact that her baby got married to someone she didn't choose.

Hope you had a great Halloween, if you celebrate it!

-Kaboom


	12. December, the Wedding

Chapter Twelve: December, the Wedding

Usually, on the morning of the wedding, it is the bride who is freaking out. "What if my time of the month comes?" or "What if he changes his mind?" or "What if I accidentally rip the dress?" are common fears of new brides. But on this day, it was the bride who was as calm as the surface of a reflecting pool, while the groom was the one having the mini-breakdown.

"What if my mother tries something stupid?" Nekozawa cried, tearing at his hair. "I intend to go through with this no matter what she does, but you don't know my mom! She can ruin everything if she puts her mind to it! Oh shit, what if she really does try to?"

"You're overreacting," Kyoya said, adjusting the other man's bow-tie. "What mother wants to ruin her child's wedding? I kind of doubt your mom is as insane as you're making her out to be. You're just scared and showing your fear through coming up with irrational conspiracy theories!"

"It's not a conspiracy theory if there's only one person in on it," Nekozawa replied bitterly, slapping Kyoya's hands away. "And you don't know my mother. She's dead-set against this wedding. My dad and sister have said as much. She's been expecting me to marry the girl she picked out for me, and this whole thing is like a slap in the face to her. I would be more comfortable if she was just boycotting my wedding, refusing to show up in protest, but no, she's coming, and I have a feeling she's just going to make trouble. She'd do it, too."

"Well, in that case, we're going to have to do something!" Tamaki decided, standing up and waving his hands about in a frenzy. "We can't let her in through that church door!" Kyoya rolled his eyes.

"Don't be stupid. You can't just block the mother of the groom from attending her son's wedding. If she tries something, which I really don't think is going to happen, there will be a whole church full of people who will stop it."

"Thanks guys, but this is something I'm going to have to do on my own," Nekozawa replied, nodding his head. "What kind of husband would I be if I couldn't even face down my own mother when she's being unfair to my wife?"

"Just like every other husband in this world who's afraid of his mother," Kyoya quipped, earning glares from both of the others. "What? I''m just telling the truth!"

"Speaking of wives," Tamaki said, randomly switching directions, "where is Haruhi?"

"With her family and my wife," Kyoya replied. "It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding, and ,Mr. Paranoid here is enforcing that strictly. He nearly jumped off the balcony of their apartment this morning when Haruhi asked him if he wanted a coffee... he was running around the building averting his eyes when I got there."

"I just don't want our marriage to start off cursed!" Nekozawa retorted. "With my mother being the way she is, I'm not going to take any chances this time! Besides, it's just traditional."

"And I still think you're just paranoid..." Kyoya replied, checking the time on his cell phone. "Come on, paranoiac, let's get going. You're supposed to be at the church in twenty minutes."

"Was it something I did?" Haruhi asked aloud. "Umehito nearly had a panic attack this morning when I offered him coffee. He wouldn't even look at me. Do you think he's changed his mind about the wedding?"

"No, he's just following tradition," Renge replied heatedly. "Remember how I tried to get you to check into a hotel last night?"

"What does that have to do with anything? I'm not going to waste unnecessary money on staying in a hotel when I'm staying in one tonight!"

"What your friend is trying to say, Haruhi, is that it's tradition for the bride to avoid the groom on the day of the wedding, because if he sees her it's supposedly bad luck. Your mother did the same thing when we got married," Ranka explained. "It has nothing to do with the wedding night in a hotel or the cost. Speaking of which, you will not mention what is going to happen tonight in my presence again, is that clear?" he said sternly to Renge who blushed.

"Sorry sir," she mumbled. Mei snorted.

"What a strange tradition!" she exclaimed. "Who even follows that anymore? I thought that was only from Western movies and fairy tales."

"No, lots of people take it extremely seriously!" Renge practically yelled. "It's the most romantic thing! If only more people followed the correct protocol maybe there would be less divorce!"

"Don't be naïve," Mei snorted in response to that. "Do you get your facts from girls' video games and television dramas? Seriously, wake up and welcome to the real world."

"Don't fight, please," Haruhi begged. Maybe this had been a mistake, getting Renge and Mei into the same room at the same time. Renge drove Mei up the wall, and Renge found Mei to be cold-hearted and devoid of all romantic nature that most women possessed. And when they got together they'd end up fighting more often than not.

"Sorry Haruhi," they said in unison. Ranka nodded.

"Can you try not to stress her out? A wedding is hard enough on the participants without the participants' friends fighting among themselves. At least wait until you're drunk!"

"DAD!" Haruhi yelled, embarrassed.

"What?" Ranka replied, honestly confused. Haruhi just shook her head.

"Never mind. Can someone come here and help me zip this up?" she indicated the back of her dress, which indeed needed to be zipped up. Renge obliged, and Haruhi turned around to face her friends and father. "How do I look?"

"You look great!" Renge enthused. "You look like a princess!"

"For once I have to agree with her," Mei agreed. "And I'm not just saying that because I made the dress. You seriously look amazing, Haruhi!"

"I never thought I would see this day, when my little girl dressed up in a pretty white dress to get married. I always thought I would not want to hand you over to some man, but I have to say that I'm very proud of you today, Haruhi," Ranka said. "I wasn't sure about your boyfriend, but now I think he's the right guy for you. And I want a grandchild. But I don't want you to have sex, so adopt, OK?"

"Dad..." Haruhi groaned for the second time that day. Ranka stuck out his tongue teasingly, then sobered.

"I wish your mother could have seen you like this. She would have been so proud of you, Haruhi." Haruhi bowed her head in silence. She had been hoping that her dad wouldn't bring up her mother on this day. It was so painful for her, and she didn't want to think about the way her parents' marriage had ended- in death, despair, and remorse.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"WELL! That's that, then!" Renge interrupted the moment. "Let's go! We need to get you to the church!"

Sevastiana Evdikimova sat in the pew in the church, fuming. Her husband and daughter had convinced her to stay silent throughout the wedding even though she knew that her son was making the worst mistake of his life. She had looked the other way when Umehito decided to go work for a finance company rather than begin work in Nekozawa Firearms Manufacturing. She had looked the other way he decided to go live in a wretched apartment building away from his family. But she would be damned to an early hell if she was about to let her son marry some woman who was totally wrong for him!

Kirimi knew what her mother was thinking. How could she not? The Russian woman was laser-beam holes into the pew wood.

"Mother! Stop! Brother is happy, and she's a nice lady! Stay silent!"

"Don't tell me what to do, Kirimi," the woman snapped, wringing her hands around the strap of her purse. "I don't want Umehito to fall to some woman's corrupt clutches!What if she only wants to rob him blind then divorce him? I won't let that happen to my son!"

"You've been watching too many television dramas," Kirimi snorted. Her father looked as though he sort of agreed with his daughter, but was reluctant to say so (and you couldn't blame him- Sevastiana Evdikimova was absolutely terrifying when she was angry). The woman sniffed.

"We'll see who's right when they divorce six months later!"

* * *

Despite Nekozawa's mother's bad attitude, the wedding ceremony went off without a hitch. Forty-five minutes later, the vows had been said and the rings had been exchanged, and Haruhi Fujioka was now Haruhi Nekozawa. There had been no interruptions other than Nekozawa's aunt Irina's cell phone going off in the middle of one of the hymns. The reception started, with all of the customary greetings that the newlyweds would do. They faced down a sniffling Tamaki, who was acting as though Haruhi was his actual daughter who had gotten married.

"Be good for your husband, try to get along with your in-laws, but don't let your mother-in-law control you too much! And remember to write to Daddy!" he cried. Haruhi rolled her eyes.

"I'll email you, OK? Even better, I'll text you. How's that? Just because I'm married now doesn't mean I have to cut off all electronic communications with you." Tamaki looked as though he had not even thought of that.

"That's right... I have a cell phone..."

"Get in there, you don't want to miss out on the open bar," Haruhi smirked. That was all it took.

"BARTENDER!" Tamaki yelled. "Make me a Cosmo!" Haruhi shook her head as her friend stomped off, mouth already watering at the thought of the delicious pink sugar-rimmed cocktail. Tamaki could be hilarious sometimes without even planning to be. She greeted most of the rest of the guests, until she found herself facing down a severe-looking Eurasian woman with her blonde gray-streaked hair pulled back into a sharp bun and black plastic-frame glasses on her face. There was no mistaking the family resemblance- this was her new mother-in-law.

"Congratulations on your marriage to my son," she said stiffly. "But just know this- if you ever hurt him it's your ass on the line, do you hear me? And I want grandchildren. Lots of them. But I don't want you touching my son, do you hear me!" Almost hysterically Haruhi thought of how similar this woman was to her father. She shifted uncomfortably as Sevastiana Evdikimova eyed her critically. "You're prettier than I thought you would be, to be honest. When I heard the story of how you two met, I was expecting you to be butch. But you're surprisingly feminine. No matter. You'd better treat my son well, or I will end you, do you understand me?" Haruhi shuddered. She'd heard stories about Nekozawa's mother, some of which may or may not have been true (such as the one about her shooting a bear at thirteen in the Soviet Union).

"Yes ma'am," she said politely. The woman seemed to get bored with her and moved on to more interesting topics of conversation, and thoroughly fried, Haruhi sank onto a chair. Nekozawa hurried over to her side.

"Are you alright? What did my mom do?"

"She just told me that she'd kill me if I ever hurt you," Haruhi said, slightly hysterically.

"Don't worry about that, she threatens to kill everyone," Nekozawa replied. "Did she actually to do anything to you?"

"No..."

"Thank god," Nekozawa sighed, calmer already. "If she meant you any ill will at this point she would have done it." Haruhi didn't care at this point, however. Instead, she just gave Nekozawa a bone-crushing hug. For someone with such a small frame, she had surprisng strength.

"Can you believe it? We're _married_ now!"

The reception was good. The two newlyweds had their first dance os a married couple to an Owl City song. The cake was a huge hit, with many guests wanting a piecce of each tier. Finally, _finally,_ though, the reception and Haruhi and Nekozawa got into the limo and drove off for their first night as husband and wife.

"So, are you ready for the wedding night?" Nekozawa waggled his eyebrows in an attempt to be lecherous. It was just more funny than anything, however, and Haruhi burst out laughing.

"I don't know, your mom told me that she wants grandchildren but that she doesn't want me to touch you at all! I don't think so..." Nekozawa growled playfully and play-tackled her.

"She'll just be happy to have a grandchild at all, no matter where he or she came from. So... what do you say? Do we make a baby?"

END

Author's Comments:

And this is the end of _Happy Winter Wedding._ I'm not entirely happy with it, but that's usually how it goes with this kind of thing. I end up hating my final product.. I do., however, really like the last line.

It's taken almost an entire year to write this, from the first post on the first of January, to this final post on the first of December. I honestly do not think I will be doing a set update schedule again. It's a huge headache and more often than not I missed the deadline due to unforeseen (and foreseen) circumstances. And to be completely honest, I thought the year 2009 was bad at the beginning of the time that I started to write this, but 2010 has just been one disaster after another, which really affected my desire to work on this story. But now it's finished, and I never have to try to stick to a schedule again unless I really want to for some insane reason, try a scheduled update thing again.

Anyway, thank you for reading this story! I appreciate it! And may 2011 be a great year for you!

_-GoesKaboom _12.01.2010


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